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Judah Maccabee's Toughest Battle
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All of us are familiar with the
story of Chanukah, and the role that
the Maccabees played in creating
this festival. After all, Chanukah
means "dedication," and it is thanks
to the victory of the Maccabees over
the Greeks that the Temple could be
re-dedicated. The person who
played the greatest role in freeing
the Temple was Judah Maccabee.
Most of us would view him as a
hero only on account of this one
act.
During the second century
B.C.E. (Before the Common Era),
the land of Israel was in the hands
of the Syrian Greeks. The Greek
rulers passed a number of laws that
required Jews to follow Greek
customs. A number of Jews obeyed.
Not only did they dress in Greek
style and study Greek thought,
these Jews also followed Greek
religious practices. Because these
Jews followed Greek customs they
were called Hellenists. (Hellas is the
Greek name for Greece).
Still, there were Jews who
refused to give up their traditions.
One well-known group was the
priestly family of Mattathias the
Hasmonean. One day, Greek
soldiers were sent by King
Antiochus of the Seleucid empire in
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Syria to Mattathias' village, Modi'in.
Since Mattathias was a priest, they
commanded him to set up an altar
for the worship of the Greek gods.
Not only did Mattathias refuse to do
this, but he also began a revolt
against Greek rule. Small groups of
Jews began to fight the Greeks.
Among the fighters were
Mattathias' sons, one of whom had
exceptional talent as a warrior. This
was Judah Maccabee. The Jewish
rebels fighting for religious freedom
were greatly outnumbered, but
under Judah's direction, they
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Artwor k by San dra Neyman, age 14.
By MICHAL SHEKEL
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managed to win victory after victory.
His secret was the way he fought.
Today the system he used is known
as guerilla warfare. Since Judah
and the Jewish rebels did not have
as many soldiers or weapons as the
Greeks, they depended on strategy.
The most important element of this
strategy was surprising the Greek
soldiers. The Jewish rebels would
ambush them. In this way, Judah
could choose the time, place, and
method of battle and use it to his
advantage.
Judah's battles were very
successful. Not only did his rag-tag
group of fighters prevent a Greek
altar from being set up in Modi'in,
they freed the Jewish capital of
Jerusalem from Greek rule. After
this victory in 164 B.C.E., Judah
cleared the holy Temple of all Greek
items, and of the Hellenized Jews
the Greeks had placed in charge of
the Temple. The Temple was re-
dedicated and the festival of
Chanukah created at that time.
But Judah's battles were not yet
over. Now, messages began to
arrive from all across the land of
Israel. These messages were from
Jewish villages asking for help
against the Seleucid Greek soldiers
and other hostile neighbors who
were attacking the Jews. Once
again, Judah and his fighters went
to the rescue of their fellow Jews.
Eventually, the wars between
the Jews and their neighbors
ended, but this did not bring peace.
Now, Judah Maccabee faced his
toughest battle — the fight against
his fellow Jews. While Judah fought
against Greek rule, there were many
Hellenistic Jews who supported the
Greeks. They felt more at home in
their adopted Greek culture than in
their native Jewish one.
Judah saw the Hellenistic Jews
as a great problem. It is a problem
that still exists today. We call it
"assimilation." This refers to people
who are born Jewish, but, for some
reason, are ashamed of their
Judaism. They are more
comfortable being "just like
everyone else." Most of us have run
across problems of assimilation,
especially at Chanukah time. Many
of us have Jewish friends who
celebrate Christmas. Many of us
may refer to Chanukah as the
"Jewish Christmas" because there
are minor similarities between the
two holidays. It isn't difficult to
understand why a person wants to
assimilate. All of us want to "fit in";
assimilation is the easiest way to do
this.
Most of us assimilate up to a
certain point. We speak the
common language of our country.
We enjoy the same entertainment
as everyone else. We dress like
everyone else. It would be
impossible for us to have non-
Jewish friends unless we had
certain interests in common with
them. But we are still proud of
being Jews. We study our history,
learn Hebrew, and celebrate Jewish
holidays. It isn't always easy being
Jewish in a non-Jewish world.
Sometimes we have conflicts.
Should we go to Hebrew school or
play in Little League after school?
Whatever we decide, we still live in
both the Jewish and the non-Jewish
worlds.
The Hellenistic Jews wanted to
live in only one world. They chose
to abandon their Jewish heritage.
They studied Greek thinkers, but
ignored Jewish ones. They spent
time pursuing the Greek ideal of
physical exercise, but in so doing,
found that they had no time for
following Jewish ideals. Now, after
risking his life for Jewish freedom,
Judah Maccabee discovered that
many Jews were saying "no thanks,
we don't want to be Jews."
Imagine yourself in the
following situation: All of your
friends at school want to shoplift.